Abstract

We report on the fabrication and optical assessment of an all-solid tellurite-glass photonic bandgap fiber. The manufacturing process via a preform drawing approach and the fiber characterization procedures are described and discussed. The fiber exhibits some minor morphological deformations that do not prevent the observation of optical confinement within the fiber by bandgap effects. The experimental fiber attenuation spectrum displays clear bandgap confinement regions whose positions are confirmed by modeling the guiding properties of the ideal geometry using a plane-wave expansion method. The model identifies the bound modes of the structure and provides confirmation of experimentally observed mode field profiles.

Figures (3)

(a) Optical micrograph of the end face of the PBF made from tellurite glass. High-refractive index inclusions from TZNGe2 glass appear bright. The remaining area of the fiber is made from low-index TZNGe1 glass. (b) Near-field output imaging of a 28 cm long section of tellurite-glass PBF shown in (a). The fiber input face was excited in the central low-refractive index area of the fiber using a broadband source spanning from 480 to 2000 nm.

Attenuation spectrum of tellurite-glass PBF measured by cutback technique using a supercontinuum source to illuminate the fiber. Overlay depicts regions where simulations predict guided core-bound modes (white) due to a full photonic bandgap and regions where no guided modes are supported (black).

(a)–(d) Experimental near-field photographs of the output of a 28 cm long PBG fiber section made from tellurite glass and taken at wavelengths of 1553, 1300, 980, and 795 nm, respectively. PBF confinement occurred at wavelengths of 1300 and 1553 nm, whereas no confinement was observed at 795 and 980 nm. (e)–(h) Core-hybrid-mode field profiles obtained by modeling the idealized fiber structure at the same wavelengths.